Cubs Drop Fifth Straight

W: Hoeing (1-1, 10.80 ERA)

L: Kachmar (0-1, 6.48 ERA)

BOX SCORE

BELOIT, WI – The South Bend Cubs (2-5) dropped their fifth straight game Wednesday night, losing 8-3 to the Beloit Snappers (4-4) despite getting out to an early 2-0 lead.

The bottom of the order got things going in the third with Scott McKeon getting hit by a pitch and Reivaj Garcia singling down the line in left to start the inning. DJ Artis doubled in a run in his first game back with South Bend after starting the year in triple-a Iowa. Delvin Zinn followed by driving in Garcia on a sacrifice fly to center to make it 2-0.

Beloit got one back the next half inning with a two-out RBI-single from Thomas Jones but they stranded a pair and ended the inning with just the one run.

Chris Kachmar (4.2 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 8 K) showcased pinpoint accuracy early, striking out the side in the second and fourth inning and pitching efficiency through four frames. The right-hander surpassed his previous career high of six strikeouts but labored through a lengthy fifth inning.

Devin Hairston doubled for the second straight time in the fifth inning and came in to score for the second time on a Ricky Aracena single to left, Hairston was off on the pitch and scored easily. Aracena stole second and quickly moved up another 90 feet on a Kachmar wild pitch. Jones followed with a single, the third straight hit in the inning, over a drawn in infield and Beloit took their first lead, 3-2.

And the inning wouldn’t end there.

Connor Scott singled to right, sending Jones to third base, and Kameron Misner reached via a walk to load the bases. Misner was the fifth straight batter to reach base. Will Banfield drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and that forced Manager Michael Ryan to pull Kachmar with two runners aboard still in the fifth.

Tanner Jesson-Dalton came in and walked Griffin Conine on four pitches to load the bases. Up stepped Nic Ready who was just 1-for-20 on the year, and he launched a grand slam to put this one out of reach at 8-2.

Beloit retired 11-straight South Bend batters at one point and 17-out-of-18 from the third inning partially through the eighth. The Cubs managed one more run in the ninth with back-to-back doubles by Jacob Olson and Bryce Windham to leadoff the inning.

Eury Ramos (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, K) looked strong in his third relief appearance of the season.

After starting the season 2-0, South Bend has fallen to 2-5.

Up next: RHP Max Bain (0-0, 6.00 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Nicolas (1-0, 1.80 ERA).

The South Bend Cubs continue their series with game three against the Beloit Snappers tomorrow night at 7:35 p.m.